Women Compete for free??? Say What?!?

Yep. In May I have planned, and already requested time off to compete at the Grapplers Quest in Columbus Ohio but today I did some further creeping and was extremely pleased to see this pretty little tid-bit on the grapplers quest official website:

Huge shoutout to Grapplers Quest and the kind folks at Gaspari Nutrition for lighting the fire under my butt, snatching the chocolate bar outta my hand and allowing me to truly have something to train hard for. Normally I’m skittish about female participation but if this is marketed just right I have no doubt that there will be plenty of competition. Woop, Woop.

Brandon & I after his receiving his purple belt. Congrats Babe!!

In other news, my other half got promoted to purple belt a few weeks ago. I love surprise promotions and I also enjoyed their gauntlet that followed. HOLD YOUR HORSES human rights activist they had gi tops on, so of course I tried to hit as hard as I could but it was very ‘humane’.

So now I’ve constructed a series of plans, series, drills, etc. to prepare myself not only physcially but mentally. I’ve talked myself out of many competition opprotunities because I felt I wasnt ready, and in certain cases I really wasn’t. But part of being a competitor is being confident in one’s abilities. I’m one of the people that love plans, and I think that with the proper preparation, a solid plan, I can build up my jiu jitsu confidence enough to drive 5hrs, step on the mat, and give my all.

Read an article over at BJJWEEKLY.com entitled, “Just Let the Jiu-Jitsu Happen” and I particularly enjoyed this excerpt where Bill Thomas talked about having a spontaneos game:

” If your mind is fixated on something, it cannot perform in a spontaneous way. Fixation of the mind slows your responsiveness and impedes your efforts. If your Jiu-Jitsu is not spontaneous and you have to think about what you are doing you will always be just a little slow to react. Being slow to react creates opportunities for your opponent.”

I’m just trying to stay positive. I’ve been looking at footage from previous tournaments and using that as amunition to truly grow as a grappler. But i’ve always watched my better footage to convince/remind myself that I am capable of good feats. Just gotta believe in myself.